


Asymmetry

by SlantedKnitting



Series: gifts given [19]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Banter, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Modern Era, Mutual Pining, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-09-21 16:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17046737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlantedKnitting/pseuds/SlantedKnitting
Summary: Arthur lives with Gwaine and Merlin. He likes living with Gwaine. He does not like living with Merlin. Who would (besides Gwaine, apparently)?





	Asymmetry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dr_Horse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Horse/gifts).



> Happy Holiday, Dr_Horse! I hope this tickles your fancy!
> 
> Thanks as always to Mya for the beta!!

Arthur settled down on the sofa with a beer and the telly remote, bored and desperate to find something entertaining to watch. His mates had cancelled on him—everyone was poorly with some horrible bug Arthur wanted to avoid at all costs—and his flatmates were both out doing God knows what. Gwaine was probably arse-deep in his boyfriend Percy, and Merlin was probably at some howl-at-the-moon event. Or something else ridiculous, because Merlin was the _embodiment_ of ridiculous. 

Sometimes Arthur wondered if he should regret living with such silly people. He had lived briefly by himself when he'd got his first job after uni, but he'd realised quite quickly that it wasn't for him. He hated being alone all the time. He wanted to be able to come home from work and have someone to talk to, someone to eat dinner with, someone to watch telly with, someone to be lazy with. He'd got out of his lease as soon as he'd been able and found a flat with Gwaine, who was the only one of his mates in a position to move at the time.

At first, Arthur had been wary about living with Gwaine, who was loud and lewd and a bit of a nuisance on his best days. But, honestly, he was very loveable. And he and Arthur had things in common—they liked watching football together and playing video games together, they liked the same brands of liquor and cider. Most importantly, they had surprisingly compatible living styles. Arthur liked to keep the kitchen clean, and Gwaine—for reasons best kept to himself—liked to keep the bathroom clean, and neither of them minded a messy living room. Despite Gwaine's quirks, it had turned out to be a solid arrangement.

They'd lived happily together for several years until Gwaine decided he wanted more space. By some cosmic joke, his old mate Merlin also happened to be in need of a new place after getting dumped, and so Gwaine had found them a three-room flat. Arthur hadn't been especially keen on the idea of living with Merlin, who he barely knew, but he went along with the plan, hoping that Merlin would eventually move back out on his own and leave Arthur and Gwaine with a spare room for guests or a study.

It'd been a year now, and the three of them were still living together, though. It'd been a year, and Arthur still struggled to find _anything_ he had in common with Merlin.

Merlin was just so _odd_.

He kept mostly to himself, but Arthur had caught a few glimpses into his room and was pretty sure the walls were covered in tapestries depicting various moon phases. He definitely owned at least one Tarot deck as well as something called an 'Oracle deck' that Arthur had never heard of and still didn't know what it was but had overheard him talking to Gwaine about. He used all-natural antiperspirant, made his own toothpaste, and owned a tofu press. He'd carved out a little corner of the living room for himself and set up a card table for his jigsaw puzzles, which Arthur supposed was probably normal enough, except that all of Merlin's puzzles had dragons or unicorns on them.

Normally, Arthur was happy to let Merlin keep to himself and spend time with Gwaine instead, but on nights like this—Saturday nights when he'd done absolutely nothing all day and felt like he'd go out of his mind if he had to do absolutely nothing with his whole evening—he wouldn't have minded having even Merlin for company. Even if Merlin just sat in the corner with his puzzles, Arthur could at least be in a room with another human.

After cycling through every channel on the telly for what felt like an hour, Arthur was getting desperate and considering downloading a dating app on his mobile just to find _someone_ to spend time with. But before he could, Merlin burst in, slamming the door and making Arthur almost fall off the sofa from the sudden loud noise.

"Jesus, you nearly gave me a heart attack," Arthur said, muting the telly and turning around to glare.

Merlin was leaning back against the door, his eyes closed and his chest heaving like he'd run a marathon to get home.

"All right?" Arthur asked, even though it was clear that Merlin was not all right.

Merlin swallowed—it looked like it took a lot of effort—and nodded without opening his eyes.

Arthur wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just sat there, watching as Merlin slowly pulled himself together enough to open his eyes and take a step away from the door.

"Did you see a ghost?" Arthur asked, trying to change the mood in the room to something less tense.

Merlin cleared his throat and set down his bag. Without responding to Arthur's question, he pulled off his gloves—his hands were definitely shaking—and unwrapped his scarf. He set about getting himself out of his jacket but struggled so much that Arthur couldn't watch anymore.

"Is it really that cold out?" he asked, getting up and going over to Merlin to help.

Merlin took a step back as soon as Arthur came into his personal space.

"Sorry," Arthur said automatically. "I... just trying to help."

Merlin shook his head, gave the most forced smile Arthur had ever seen, and retreated into his room without taking off his jacket.

"Okay," Arthur said to himself, staring at the empty space Merlin had just occupied. "Nevermind, then."

He returned to the sofa, put his feet up on the coffee table, and went back to trying to find something to watch that wouldn't make his eyes melt out of his head from boredom.

Two or three minutes later, Merlin came back out from his room, sans jacket. "Actually," he said, apropos of nothing, "may I..." He trailed off, pursing his lips so tightly the skin around them went white. He gestured to the sofa and Arthur nodded.

Arthur tried to hand over the remote, but Merlin refused, pushing it back at Arthur.

"So," Arthur sighed, changing the channel again, "rough night?"

Merlin grunted, presumably a noise of assent.

Trying not to roll his eyes, Arthur picked a channel at random and crossed his arms, pressing himself back into the sofa. He had thought he'd wanted Merlin's company, but Merlin was so absent that he might as well not have been there at all.

Arthur ran though some scenarios in his head that might explain Merlin's resolute silence. Maybe he'd dropped too much acid. Maybe he really had seen a ghost. Maybe he'd been out to a show and shouted too much. None of those options explained the panting when he'd arrived, though, except maybe the ghost theory.

"Nearly got mugged," Merlin said eventually, his voice so quiet that Arthur only just heard it over the sound of the _Doctor Who_ episode he'd found.

"You—what?" Arthur scrambled to mute the telly again. "What the fuck? Are you all right?"

"Obviously."

"No, I mean... what happened?"

Merlin shrugged, his eyes still on the telly. "Two guys came up behind me and grabbed my bag."

Arthur double-checked that Merlin's bag was on the kitchen counter behind them. "And you grabbed it back?" he asked incredulously.

Merlin shrugged again. "Well, I'd just gone shopping."

Arthur blinked, slightly speechless at the image of _Merlin_ fighting off two muggers.

"I'm sorry," he said, and Merlin finally looked over at him. "Did they take anything else? Did they hurt you?"

Merlin shook his head. "No, I just got my bag back and ran home."

"I'm sorry," Arthur said again. "Can I help? Can I... get you something? Do you want water? Something harder?"

Merlin shook his head again and looked back at the telly.

Arthur forced down a sigh and unmuted the telly. Leave it to Merlin to react so casually—and yet also so very _not_ casually—about nearly getting robbed on the street. Arthur felt like he should do something, anything to help Merlin calm down and feel safe, but Merlin wasn't giving him anything to go off. And Arthur didn't know Merlin well enough to come up with something on his own.

Maybe that was a little sad, considering how long they'd lived together, but Arthur had always relied on Gwaine to be the balancing presence between them. And Gwaine had always seemed more than happy to be the keeper of the peace.

"Sorry," Merlin said quietly. "Can you just... sit with me for a bit?"

"Yeah, of course. Don't apologise."

Merlin nodded and Arthur looked at him for a minute, trying to gauge how shaken he might still be. Perhaps sensing Arthur's gaze, Merlin glanced over, and Arthur quickly turned his attention back to The Doctor's antics.

~~~

In the morning, Arthur woke up early and made as much of a fry-up as he could. He heated up some beans and sautéed a potato. He scrambled a few eggs together, even though he wasn't entirely sure if Merlin ate eggs. He didn't know if Merlin was maybe vegan or vegetarian or if he just enjoyed tofu enough to own a special tool for it—although, really, who enjoyed tofu that much?

By the time Merlin emerged, he was setting out plates on the breakfast bar.

"What's this?" Merlin asked around a yawn. He wasn't dressed yet, and his hair was sticking up in every possible direction. His eyes were still a little puffy from sleep, his lips looked dry and cracked, and his pyjama bottoms were slung a little too low on one side, exposing some skin near his hip.

"I made breakfast," Arthur said.

"Well... I can see that. Why?"

Arthur frowned, looking down at all the work he'd done. He hadn't even really thought about it. He'd just woken up and decided that Merlin deserved a nice breakfast after such a rough night. It hadn't occurred to him that he should maybe ask or go a little less ham.

"I was hungry," he answered lamely. "Do you want some, or..."

Merlin shrugged and sat down, immediately shovelling in a mouthful of beans. Arthur took the seat next to him and started in on his own.

"How did you sleep?" Arthur asked. They'd stayed up well past when there were reasonable things to watch on the telly, and then they'd argued about what DVD to put in until Merlin had started drifting off mid-sentence and spouting absolute nonsense.

"Don't remember," Merlin said around his food. "Guess that means okay."

Arthur nodded. He took a few bites of eggs and then stood, heading back to the kitchen. "Did you want coffee?" he called out to Merlin.

"Are you just starting it?"

"Yeah, I forgot earlier."

"I don't think I'll have time."

Arthur poured water into the coffee maker and went back out to the bar. "Time?" he asked, sitting back down and starting in on the potatoes.

"Meeting up with Lance."

Lance might or might not be Merlin's boyfriend. Arthur had never really got a clear answer out of either Merlin or Gwaine about the status of their relationship. They could very well just be friends who spent a lot of time together. Or they could be _together_ together. Arthur didn't know. Not that it mattered. He also didn't care.

"Do you... do you feel comfortable going out?" he asked, realising a moment too late that he was going overboard. "I can walk you to the Tube if you like."

Merlin looked over, and Arthur glanced up to see one of his eyebrows arched exquisitely.

"Just trying to be nice."

He didn't know why Merlin had to make it so awkward. He was just trying to be a good flatmate. If he'd been nearly mugged the night before, he would have welcomed a nice breakfast and an offer to be chaperoned outside so he wouldn't have to go alone.

"I'll be fine," Merlin said. "Thank you for the offer."

Arthur shrugged and went back to his food. They continued eating in silence until the coffee maker clicked off, and when Arthur came back out with a steaming mug, Merlin was back in his room, getting ready for the day.

~~~

On Monday, Arthur poured four bowls of cereal—one for him, one for Merlin, one for Gwaine, and one for Percy who had spent the night in Gwaine's room. He ate his standing up in the kitchen, waiting anxiously for anyone else to wake up.

Percy was first. He emerged from Gwaine's room and headed to the bathroom, blind to Arthur until he came back out and heard the clatter of Arthur's spoon against the bowl.

"Having a party?" he asked, taking in the three other bowls. "Carb loading? Are these carbs?"

"Who knows. One's for you."

Percy reached for a bowl. "And Gwaine?" he asked, tugging a second one across the counter.

"Yeah."

"Thanks, mate." Percy flashed Arthur a grin, grabbed the milk out of the fridge, and took the two bowls back to Gwaine's room.

Which left Arthur standing alone in the kitchen with an extra bowl of cereal—dry cereal—for Merlin.

He went back to his room to finish eating, only coming back out when he was dressed and ready to head to work.

He did find Merlin in the kitchen, pouring himself yet another bowl of cereal.

"Oh, that one was for you." Arthur said, dropping his empty bowl in the sink.

Merlin glanced at the two bowls of cereal. "Why?"

"Well, I got some for Gwaine and Percy as well..."

Merlin shrugged and dumped the second bowl back into the box before digging into the first bowl. He ate like a young puppy who hadn't yet realised eating so quickly would make him sick.

"The milk's in Gwaine's room if you want..." Arthur offered, a little put off by Merlin's manners.

Merlin shook his head, shovelling in more food.

"Okay. Well, do you want to walk to the Tube together?" Arthur asked, knowing he would regret it.

"Sure," Merlin said, his answer muffled though a mouthful of cereal. He inhaled a few more quick bites, dropped his bowl in the sink, and went to put on his jacket.

Arthur got his things quickly, barely managing to follow Merlin out the door a few minutes later.

"So," he said once they were outside. "Have a nice weekend?"

Whatever Merlin said was lost in a gust of wind that ruffled his already messy hair.

"Sorry?" Arthur asked, leaning closer.

"I said—oh." Merlin jolted a little when he saw how close Arthur was. "Um. Yeah, it was good. Yours?"

"Fine. Boring."

Merlin bolted suddenly, trying to get across a street just as the light turned. Arthur swore, took off after him, and only barely missed getting hit by a car.

"What the hell, Merlin?" he asked, pausing to catch his breath.

"Sorry," Merlin said as they reached the Tube entrance. "Running late."

"Oh. Well—"

"Which line do you take?"

"Jubilee."

"Okay. I have to get on Victoria, so..." Merlin gave a quick smile and wave and then dashed down the stairs.

"What am I doing?" Arthur muttered to himself, giving up on chaperone duties and heading down at a normal speed.

~~~

On Wednesday, Arthur left work early to come home and cook a large dinner. His sister was supposed to be coming over, and Gwaine was going to bring Percy, and he almost never had the occasion to make something substantial enough for more than himself, Merlin's recent breakfast being an exception.

But then Morgana cancelled, and Gwaine decided to eat at Percy's instead, and, once again, Merlin came into the kitchen to see Arthur with unexpected food for him and only him.

"I, um... dinner party got called off," he said when he saw Merlin's expression. "You're welcome to whatever you like, though."

Merlin shrugged and got himself a large plateful of food. He took it out of the kitchen, leaving Arthur alone.

"Fuck this," Arthur muttered as he started getting his own portions.

"Coming?" Merlin called out.

Arthur set down his plate and leaned over the breakfast bar to see Merlin sitting on the sofa, his plate on the coffee table.

"You... want me to join you?"

"Yeah. I'm your dinner party now." Merlin grinned, and Arthur hurried to finish getting his food.

He settled next to Merlin on the sofa and let Merlin pick what to watch. They ended up sitting through two episodes of some murder mystery show that Merlin liked. Then, after they'd finished eating, Merlin invited Arthur to work on his latest puzzle.

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked. "I'm not very good. I haven't done a puzzle since I was maybe 12."

"Then how do you know you're not very good?" Merlin teased as he settled himself at the puzzle table. "I'm sure. If you get bored, you can stop."

Arthur pulled over a chair and sat down across from Merlin. The image on the box set up next to the puzzle was of a cartoonish cat wearing a wizard hat and casting some sort of spell over a small unicorn in a bell jar.

"Where do you find these?" Arthur asked, tugging the box closer to get a better look at the picture.

"Internet, where else?" Merlin passed Arthur a small box filled with yellow pieces. "That's the bookshelf bit," he said, pointing to one corner of the puzzle. "I'm working on the hat."

Arthur didn't know where to begin. He floundered for a bit, sticking random pieces together as Merlin hummed. Then he decided to group everything by shape. He laid out pieces with no sticky-outy bits, and then one, two, three, and four sticky-outy bits. He picked up the piece closest to him, one with three sticky-outy bits, and tried to find the piece that would match the inward bit.

"So, how come it's been 20 years since you've done a puzzle?" Merlin asked.

"Dunno," Arthur admitted. "I remember my uncle used to give them to me as birthday presents. Maybe he stopped because they're for kids."

"They're not for kids."

"No, I mean—sorry. They're not. I meant, maybe he stopped because _he_ thought they were for kids."

Merlin murmured in agreement. "What kind of presents did he get you after that?"

"Military history books."

"Yikes."

Arthur chuckled. "Yeah. They weren't exactly age-appropriate, but they were interesting. For a while, I thought I wanted to be a history teacher."

"Not a soldier?"

"Well, that too. Got a bit side-tracked with this finance nonsense."

"Hm. History teacher could be fun. Probably more fun than finance nonsense."

"Probably more fun, yes. Probably less lucrative."

"Is that what you work for?"

"What do you mean?"

"For money? Is that why you have a job?"

"I have a job because that's what people do, Merlin. Aha!" Arthur snapped a second piece to his first and held up his achievement for Merlin to see.

"Well done," Merlin teased.

"It is well done," Arthur said confidently, going back to his task to find the next piece. "It's been 20 years and that only took me a few minutes."

"You made a spreadsheet out of your puzzle pieces."

"Yes, and that strategy worked, so shut up."

Merlin snorted.

"Why do you have a job, then? Surely your salary plays a part."

"A part," Merlin agreed. "I do good, though."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I don't sit behind a desk staring at useless numbers all day."

"No, you clean up vomit all day."

"Is that what you think nurses do?"

"Is it not?"

"Not always, no."

Arthur smirked. "But sometimes, yeah?" He looked up to see Merlin rolling his eyes. "Do you know what I actually do? Because it's not exactly as you described."

"Is it not?"

"Not always, no."

Merlin rolled his eyes again. "Enlighten me, then."

"I'm a financial advisor for veterans. When they come home, or whenever, really, they come talk to me and I help them figure out how to save so they can do things like buy a home or start a family."

"Well," Merlin said after a moment, "I suppose that makes sense, considering your love of military books."

"I suppose." Arthur fiddled with a puzzle piece he wasn't entirely sure fit into his section. "How did we start talking about this?"

"Your uncle used to buy you puzzles."

"Right. What kinds of presents did you get growing up?"

"Also books, mostly. Fantasy books—"

"Shocking."

"—astrology books—"

"Also shocking."

"—murder mystery books."

"So predictable."

Merlin snorted and took the piece out of Arthur's hand, slotting it into place along the bottom border.

"I think you're just jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Arthur asked, picking up another piece.

"Of my amazing puzzle skills."

"What does that have to do with your childhood books?"

"Nothing."

"Exactly."

"Exactly."

Arthur huffed. "You're ridiculous, did you know that?"

"I did, actually. I rather thought that was why you always avoided me until very recently."

"I wasn't avoiding you," Arthur defended himself. "I was..."

Merlin looked up, patiently waiting for Arthur's explanation.

"Well, you avoided me, too."

"Did not. I was trying to respect the fact that you were avoiding me."

Arthur laughed despite himself. "Well, at least we've moved on past the avoidance stage."

"Why have we, by the way?"

"What do you mean?"

Merlin gave Arthur a sceptical look. "Well, you avoided me for over a year, and now suddenly you won't stop feeding me."

"Only the once on purpose."

Merlin's expression didn't change.

"Okay, twice. Is that a crime?"

"No. Mugging me would be a crime."

"Are you... suggesting that I'm one of the men who tried to take your bag?"

"No, I'm just pointing out that as soon as someone tried to commit a crime against me, you seemed to start thinking that I was incapable of feeding myself. Or walking anywhere alone."

"I was trying to be nice," Arthur said, feeling silly for needing to explain himself. "You were all fucked up that first night, and I just thought—if it had been me, I wouldn't have wanted—I'll keep to myself next time. Apologies."

"Arthur, I'm joking," Merlin said quietly. "I appreciate how kind you've been. And the food has all been excellent, even that bowl of cereal."

Arthur huffed.

"I'm serious. Here." Merlin held out his hand. "Truce?"

"Truce from what?" Arthur asked.

"From avoiding each other. And from awkward attempts to say 'thank you,' which apparently I'm very bad at."

Arthur smirked and shook Merlin's hand. "Truce. And you're welcome, I guess."

"Good. How's the bookshelf coming along?"

"Um." Arthur looked down at the two pieces he'd managed to put together. "Not a lot of progress. How's the hat?"

"Finished," Merlin said, snapping the last hat piece into place with a flourish. "Time for more murder mysteries, do you think?"

"This is fine," Arthur admitted. "If you don't mind how embarrassingly slow I am."

"It's not embarrassing," Merlin said with a smile. "It's well done for a 20 year hiatus."

"That's what I'm saying."

"Yes. And I'm agreeing."

Arthur picked up a piece and flicked it towards Merlin's head.

~~~

Merlin let Arthur walk him to the Tube stop on Thursday morning and then again on Friday. When Arthur got home from work several hours later, Gwaine was sprawled out across the sofa, home for the first time since Monday as far as Arthur knew.

"You're alive," Arthur said as he shrugged off his jacket.

"Were you worried?" Gwaine asked without looking up from his mobile.

"Not in the slightest." Arthur went over to the sofa and pushed Gwaine's legs to the floor so he could sit. "How was your week?"

Gwaine sat up and scratched his beard as he considered Arthur.

"What?" Arthur asked, unnerved. Gwaine wasn't usually anything close to serious.

"You look... glowy."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Glowy," Gwaine said again, wiggling his fingers as if that would explain it.

"Are you trying to say that I look pregnant?"

Gwaine snorted. "No. You look happy."

"Well, it's Friday. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"Did you have a good week at work?" Gwaine asked as he propped up his feet on the coffee table.

"It was the same as it always is. You?"

Gwaine shrugged. "Work's fine. Been at Percy's most of the week."

"I noticed," Arthur said pointedly.

"Yeah, sorry. Glad to see you and Merlin survived, though. I mean, assuming he's not dead and stuffed in a cupboard or something."

"Jesus, what?"

"I wasn't sure you two would survive a week without me," Gwaine clarified.

"Why's that?" Gwaine gave Arthur a look, and Arthur felt himself going red. "We're mates, now," he said quickly.

"You're _what_?" Gwaine asked incredulously.

"Mates. You know, friends. We get along."

"How'd you manage that?"

Arthur shrugged, glancing over at the puzzle he and Merlin were still working on.

"Well," Gwaine said, still sounding sceptical, "I'm proud of you."

"Proud of me for making a friend?"

"Proud of you for pulling your head out of your arse long enough to finally notice how brilliant Merlin is."

Arthur rolled his eyes and handed Gwaine the telly remote. "Here, pick something. I'll grab us some ciders."

~~~

Saturday morning, Arthur woke up to find Gwaine already gone—no doubt back at Percy's—and Merlin sitting at his puzzle table with a mug of tea.

"Hey," Arthur said, pulling up a chair. "Didn't hear you come in last night."

"Just got in," Merlin said. "Crashed on Lance's sofa."

Not Merlin's boyfriend, then.

"Get up to anything fun?" Arthur asked, pulling a small box of green-tinted pieces towards himself. He checked the image on the puzzle box and saw that they probably made up the window in the top left corner.

"We went to a reading." Merlin yawned again. "Lance knew the author so we went out with her after. I haven't had so much to drink in ages."

"Do you want a proper breakfast?" Arthur asked, taking in the bags under Merlin's eyes.

Merlin made a vague noise. "You don't have to. This tea will keep me company."

Arthur chuckled, wondering if Merlin was still drunk. "I was about to make something for myself. It's no trouble."

Merlin looked up from the puzzle. "Are you sure?"

"'Course."

"Thanks," Merlin said, smiling. "That'd be very nice."

Arthur reached out and mussed Merlin's hair as he stood, only realising as he reached the kitchen that he probably should have restrained himself from following that particular instinct.

~~~

They ended up finishing the puzzle after eating breakfast, and then Merlin invited Arthur out to the cinema. Arthur hadn't heard of the film but agreed because he had nothing else to do with the day, and it turned out to be an environmental documentary that made Arthur feel very bad about most of his lifestyle.

"All right?" Merlin asked as they walked back to their flat.

"Mhm. Just thinking about how my children won't have drinking water. Pleasant thought, that."

"Might be a bit of an exaggeration. Besides, you're not single-handedly depleting resources."

"No, I'm just one of many," Arthur said grumpily. "Most of whom don't care."

"Did you care before you watched that?"

"Yes," Arthur snapped. "Just because I wasn't as informed doesn't mean—"

"Joking," Merlin said, holding up his hands. "Calm down."

Arthur huffed, and Merlin nudged his shoulder.

"Get a drink?" Merlin asked, nodding towards a pub a few doors up.

"You haven't sworn off drinking from last night?" Arthur teased.

"I wasn't that bad this morning, was I?"

"Not so bad as to keep you from finishing that puzzle."

"You helped," Merlin pointed out. He led the way into the pub and got them two beers to take to a table in the back, away from most of the crowd. "Thanks for coming with me," he said, knocking his glass against Arthur's. "I had a good time."

Arthur took a sip of his drink. "Me, too, I think. Thanks for inviting me."

"Anytime." Merlin shrugged happily and then gave Arthur a shy sort of smile. "I'm glad we're not avoiding each other anymore."

Arthur felt warmth pooling in his stomach and wasn't entirely sure he could blame the beer. "Yeah," he agreed. "Me, too. You're not as bad as I thought you were."

"Thanks?" Merlin pulled an annoyed face.

"Joking," Arthur said, holding up his hands as Merlin had done earlier.

Merlin chuckled and took a large gulp of his beer.

They stayed out for three rounds and then Arthur shepherded Merlin home. Merlin complained the whole way, going on non-stop about how he couldn't believe he'd gotten so drunk two nights in a row, blaming Lance and his _'stupid socialist reading that you_ know _I loved'_ , talking shit about the cinematography in the documentary they'd just watched, and then finally laying into Gwaine's too-perfect hair.

"I mean, look at him," Merlin said when they finally got home where Gwaine and Percy were cuddled up on the sofa. "It's disgusting."

Gwaine looked over his shoulder in time to see Merlin trip over his own feet and nearly face plant into the wall.

"What'd you do to him?" Gwaine asked, muting whatever he and Percy were watching.

"Went to see a documentary with him," Arthur said. "The rest he did to himself."

"I can hear you," Merlin said as he kicked off his shoes. "And I hate your hair."

"He means your hair," Arthur clarified for Gwaine. "He's got a weird amount of feelings about it."

"So do I," Percy said.

Merlin pretended to vomit, and Gwaine and Percy laughed and then kissed to tease him.

"We need food," Arthur said, feeling about as bad as Merlin looked despite hiding it better.

"You didn't eat?"

"No, we just—" Arthur reached out to help Merlin untangle himself from his scarf. "Just got drunk."

"We ordered pizza," Percy said, watching as Arthur helped Merlin out of his jacket. "There's some slices left."

"Thank fuck," Merlin said before heading straight for the kitchen.

"Seems like you had a fun day," Gwaine said.

Arthur turned away as he took off his jacket, uncomfortable with the piercing look Gwaine was giving him.

"Yeah, it was—" Arthur hiccupped loudly, his oesophagus protesting the amount of carbonation he'd consumed. "Ow, fuck."

Gwaine chuckled and unmuted the telly. "Go get some pizza, Romeo."

Arthur hiccupped again and hurried into the kitchen, grabbing a slice as quickly as he could and then going to hide in his room.

~~~

Sunday morning, Arthur stayed in bed long past a reasonable hour. He was hungry, he had to pee, and he couldn't stop thinking about the sweet relief of a paracetamol. But he couldn't bring himself to get up and risk encountering anyone in the living room or the kitchen.

After Gwaine had so rudely called out his apparently obvious crush on Merlin, Arthur had spent the rest of the night trying to convince himself that Gwaine wasn't right.

He liked Merlin, sure. The past week had made it abundantly clear that they actually were compatible despite Arthur's full year of denial. Merlin was fun, and funny, and lovely. But that didn't mean Arthur had any deeper _feelings_.

Could he help it if he liked being close to Merlin, whether on the sofa or at the puzzle table? That every time Merlin turned to the side, he was struck by the gentle beauty of Merlin's profile? That Merlin's lips were always there, making exaggerated shapes as he spoke or being licked when it was cold and dry outside? That Merlin's hair was so soft, and his neck so long, and his ears so big, and his eyes so bright and crinkly? That Merlin was kind and generous and excellent company for mundane activities like puzzles or documentaries?

None of those things were Arthur's fault, and it certainly wasn't his fault that he had noticed them. It was Merlin's fault. It was Merlin's fault for being so pretty and so nice. And it was definitely Gwaine's fault for _pointing that out_ and making it impossible for Arthur to continue ignoring it.

The whole thing was Gwaine's fault, really. As so many, many, many things were.

When he couldn't stand the hunger pangs anymore, Arthur finally dared to get out of bed. There was no one in the living room, thankfully. He went to relieve himself and then ventured into the kitchen to see if there was any more pizza left over from the night before.

Unfortunately, Gwaine was in the kitchen, helping himself to what looked like the last slice.

"Morning," Gwaine said around a mouthful of pizza. "You look like shit."

"Yeah, fuck you, too." Arthur set two slices of bread in the toaster, too hungry to come up with a better plan. He leaned against the counter and rubbed his temples, frustrated that he'd let Gwaine get the better of him and prevent him from getting up to eat at a normal time.

"So," Gwaine said once he'd finished eating, "Merlin, huh?"

"Christ," Arthur muttered. "Would you just leave it alone?"

"So you're denying that you fancy him?"

"I'm not—ugh. I hate you."

Gwaine smirked. "It's fine, you know. Merlin doesn't let himself get drunk around people he doesn't trust. It's been, like, what, a week since you two finally noticed each other? He might like you, too."

"It doesn't matter."

"Why?" Gwaine asked, looking surprised.

Arthur gestured around their kitchen. "Because we _live together_. I'm not an idiot."

Gwaine snorted. "You're a bit of an idiot."

Arthur kicked Gwaine's shin without much force behind it. "I'm not _that_ kind of idiot, then. I'm not going to make a move on someone I have to see every single day for the foreseeable future."

"What if the foreseeable future was... ending soon?"

"What does that mean?"

"It means Percy and I are talking about moving in together."

The toaster popped out Arthur's toast, but he ignored it.

"You're what?"

Gwaine smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. Last week was sort of a test run to see if we could stand seeing that much of each other every day."

"I guess it went well, then."

"Swimmingly. So, yeah. Maybe in like January or February."

"That's... very soon," Arthur said, alarmed.

"Yeah. I wouldn't fuck you over or anything. However long it takes for you and Merlin to decide what you want to do, I can wait."

"Decide what we want to do?" Arthur asked, pulling his toast onto a plate.

"Yeah. Like, obviously you could get another third flatmate. Or you could move out separately so you can bang his pretty little butt."

"Jesus Christ." Arthur took out a knife and began buttering his toast. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

Gwaine chuckled and knocked his hip against Arthur's. "Just trying to play Cupid."

"You're doing a disgusting job of it."

"That's what I'm here for."

"Wish you weren't," Arthur muttered.

Merlin came into the kitchen and Arthur did his best to shoot daggers out of his eyes at Gwaine to make it clear that topic of conversation was not to continue. Gwaine just smiled and excused himself.

"How'd you sleep?" Merlin asked as he poured himself a glass of water.

"Fine," Arthur lied. "You?"

Merlin chugged the entire glass and then refilled it. "Good. I'm starving. Want to go get lunch?"

Arthur glanced down at the toast he hadn't started eating yet. "Well, I—"

"My treat. I promise wherever we go will have something better than toast."

Arthur smiled sheepishly. "You don't have to."

"I want to. Please?"

Not having a better idea, Arthur agreed and went to get changed. Merlin ended up choosing a small cafe around the corner where they both ordered pastries and coffees.

"Did you hear about Gwaine and Percy?" Merlin asked after he'd had a few sips of caffeine.

"About them moving?"

"Mhm."

"Yeah, just before we left. Gwaine told me... said they were trying to do it soon."

"Yup."

"Yeah." Arthur sighed and looked down at his croissant.

"Do you think you want to stay in the flat?"

"I don't know," Arthur admitted. "All I know is I don't want to live by myself. What are you thinking of doing?"

"I think I'd like to have my own space for a bit. It's been a few years since I've lived by myself. Sometimes it's nice not to have to worry about anyone else, you know?"

"Yeah... yeah." Arthur ripped off a chunk of his croissant and folded it into his mouth. If Merlin was going to move out, he'd need to find two new people to move in. The chances of finding one person he was compatible with was already low—adding a second person in the mix didn't sound promising.

Arthur pulled out his mobile and sent a text message to his childhood mate, Leon. Leon lived in Wales but had been talking about moving back to England for a while. Maybe Arthur could entice him to make the move sooner rather than later, and then maybe he and Arthur could find a place together. Then Arthur wouldn't have to worry about living with strangers.

"Or I could stay," Merlin said casually. "It's not that crucial for me. Haven't thought about it that much, I only heard last night."

"Yeah." Arthur put his mobile back in his pocket. "We'll figure it out."

Merlin grinned and held out a forkful of his cherry pie for Arthur to sample. Arthur leaned across the table to reach the fork, and Merlin moved the fork further back, forcing Arthur to lean forward even more.

"What the hell?" Arthur asked, laughing, when Merlin held the fork above his head.

Merlin grinned and passed the fork over. Arthur took the bite quickly, not entirely trusting Merlin's generosity.

"Are you sure you'd want me to stick around?" Merlin teased, taking back his fork. "Eventually you're going to go back to being annoyed by me."

"I was never annoyed by you," Arthur said quietly. "Just... confused."

"What about me is confusing?"

"Most things. The toothpaste."

Merlin chuckled. "The toothpaste is not confusing. It's a simple recipe."

Arthur shook his head, and Merlin grinned.

"Do you want to take a walk after this?" Merlin leaned back in his chair, cradling his mug of coffee to his chest.

"It's a bit cold," Arthur pointed out.

"It can be a short walk, then. I just get bored if I have to stay in the flat for too long, and Lance is busy today."

Arthur ripped off another piece of croissant. "I used to think you and Lance were a thing," he said before shoving it in his mouth.

Merlin smirked. "Like, a romantic thing?"

Arthur nodded.

"We're definitely not," Merlin said, laughing. "He's straight. Good mate, though. He doesn't mind my toothpaste."

"I don't _mind_ the toothpaste," Arthur said, exasperated. "It's just confusing. Why can't you buy some from the shops like a normal person?"

"Maybe I'm not a normal person," Merlin said happily. "Maybe I'm the fucking weirdo you've feared all along."

"I _know_ you're a fucking weirdo."

"Rude."

"You said it first," Arthur pointed out.

"Did not."

"Did—" Arthur cut himself off when he noticed Merlin's poor attempt to hide his laughter. "You're right, actually. I don't think I do want you to stick around. You're definitely annoying."

Merlin grinned proudly and reached across the table to help himself to the late bite of Arthur's croissant.

~~~

On Monday night, Arthur got a response from Leon.

**From: Leon  
Hey! I'm definitely still thinking of moving back to England. Mostly I've been procrastinating, but Gaius has a job lined up for me if I ever decide to pull the trigger. When are you moving?**

_To: Leon  
Potentially as soon as January, maybe February._

**From Leon:  
Hm. I'll check in with Gaius. What about your other flatmate?**

Arthur didn't know how to respond. It seemed like Merlin would be happy to continue living with Arthur, but Arthur wasn't sure if he could commit to that. Each time they hung out, Arthur was more and more drawn to him. He was so baffling but in such a charming way, and Arthur wanted more. Just not in a flatmate kind of way.

~~~

Merlin was absent from the flat for all of Tuesday—presumably out spending time with Lance or working an extra shift—but when Arthur got home on Wednesday evening, Merlin was set up at his puzzle table, piecing together the border of a new puzzle.

"What are you puzzling this time?" Arthur asked, pulling up a chair and grabbing the puzzle box to see the image.

"Unicorn wedding."

Arthur blinked at the neon-coloured picture on the box. "Yikes. I mean... sure is a unicorn wedding, yup."

Merlin grinned and nudged a few pieces towards Arthur. "Want to help?"

Arthur scooted his chair forwards and tested out a few piece combinations. Just as he was realising that he wasn't any better at edge pieces than centre pieces, his mobile buzzed in his pocket.

**From: Leon  
So it looks like I could actually make February work, if you're serious about living together.**

_To: Leon  
Of course I'm serious! That's fantastic. Let's chat this weekend_

"Good news?" Merlin asked as Arthur put his mobile away.

"Yeah, actually. My mate Leon is free to move in February, so we're going to find a place."

"You're not staying here?" Merlin asked, looking down at the puzzle.

"I... well, I guess... um." Arthur licked his lips. "Would you rather live by yourself or stay here with me and Leon?"

Merlin shrugged. "I don't have a preference," he said, still looking down at the puzzle. "What do you want?"

Arthur took a long, deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "I want you to live elsewhere. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I want that because I'm... I'm interested in you, and I don't want to suffer through living with someone I feel this way about."

Merlin looked up, his lips quirked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Arthur muttered, feeling himself going red. "I'm interested—"

Merlin got to his feet and rounded the table in a flash, cutting Arthur off with a hard kiss.

"Oh," Arthur said when Merlin pulled back. "I guess that means—" Merlin brushed his fingers down the back of Arthur's neck, and Arthur closed his eyes, trying not to shiver or show how much that simple gesture had sparked through him.

"Yeah," Merlin said, pressing another kiss to Arthur's lips. "It does mean that." He straightened up, pulling Arthur to his feet as well. "Since, like, the first day I moved in."

"What? I thought—"

"I know. I... also didn't want to suffer through living with someone I felt that way about. So I sort of shut myself off. Part of it was self-preservation. Part of it was me trying to be mysterious and seductive."

Arthur chuckled and wrapped his arms around Merlin's waist. "That was a very slow seduction, Merlin."

"Got there in the end, didn't I?"

"Mhm." Arthur leaned in for another kiss. "So, this wasn't exactly how I saw this going."

"How did you see it going?" Merlin asked, pushing his fingers into Arthur's hair.

Arthur suppressed another shiver. "I thought we'd... maybe just talk about it, and, um... wait two months until we didn't live together anymore."

"Why would we wait two months?"

"Because we still live together. And that was the whole thing we were trying to avoid."

"No, we were trying to avoid living with an unrequited love. But since this is mutual..." Merlin slotted closer for a slow, sweet kiss.

"I still think we should live separately come February," Arthur said once they'd broken apart.

"I agree," Merlin murmured. "Until then, don't think too hard on it, yeah?"

"Yeah." Arthur cupped Merlin's face and pulled him in for another kiss.


End file.
